Overview

Status: Available | Released: May 1st, 2012

In this course, FM Synthesis and Sound Design, MPV expert trainer David Earl takes you on a wild, carrier wave ride showing you all you need to know about FM synthesis and how to program synth sounds that add depth and punch to your productions!

David ignites this tutorial with an incredible history of FM synthesis. From there he explores all the nooks and crannies of the FM8's well-stocked "sonic kitchen" and shows you how every knob, button and slider works. Now you're ready to jump in and do some real programming! Mr. Earl dissects the FM8's incredibly versatile Arpeggiator and shows how you can make your notes sing and dance just about any way you like. You'll also learn how to morph your sounds using the super intuitive Morph pad, where you can load in some of your favorite presets and mix 'n' match 'em to concoct a delicious sonic stew!

Wanna go even deeper? Good, because the FM "Ninja" chef Mr. Earl also unveils the FM8's Expert section where all the extra secret sauces are hiding. He'll also show you how to create rich brass and bell tones and play with the envelopes of the sound to make it come alive. Finally, David starts cooking the Modulation Matrix where you'll learn why routing is so important in the FM8 and how it dramatically affects your FM synthesis creations.

So, if you've always wanted to take a bite out of FM synthesis, David Earl is here to guide you to where all the FM goodness hides! So sit down, grab your utensils and sink your teeth into this FM8 tutorial masterpiece!

Outline

Section 1: Section 1: Exploring the FM8

Section 2: Section 2: Arpeggiator & Morphing

Section 3: Section 3: Creating Tones

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Reviews

Neil Gilmartin wrote on April 17, 2023

I always enjoy David Earl courses. His relaxed manner and experimental bent keep things engaging. I'm obviously over a decade too late, having only just gotten FM8, but this course was very useful to get up to speed. I LOVED the brief history of FM synthesis at the start; that by itself was nearly enough for me to give the course five stars. One thing that I didn't much like is the sound design examples. I just don't think any of them were inspiring sounds. These could easily have been so, I feel, if David had given more thought to them in advance. I mean, the examples were certainly enough to illustrate FM8 in use, but it would have been more exciting to have sounds that I would want to use. The course has a bit of an identity crisis too - is it an 'Explained' series or is it a 'Sound Design' series? It seems to be more the former, less the latter, but it doesn't quite commit to either. It would have been a good idea to have a separate series just focusing on sound design. Nonetheless, this was really a great way of becoming familiar with a relatively complex synthesizer.
(83)
Mr. Greg wrote on May 28, 2019

Hit every parameter and performed simple sound design.
(21)
Groovizm wrote on August 22, 2016

The first two chapters of "FM8: FM Synthesis and Sound Design" are just a simple knob-by-knob run through of the FM8. I learned nothing here that I couldn't have learned from the manual. So I was really hoping for some new insights and sound design tips when I got to the the third and last chapter "Creating Tones". But I'm sorry to say that David Earl does not seem to be really into programming FM sounds at all. The sounds he creates in this chapter are not inspiring at all. So, though I did get some ideas how to tackle the FM8 while David ran through all the functions and I really did create some nice sounds of my own, I still feel there's a lot to learn about FM. I'd really love a series that would show you how to re-create those classic FM sounds that Dave speaks of in the introduction: all those wonderful EP's, basses and brass sounds! Because, though I have a fairly good idea of how to get the sounds I hear in my head with subtractive synthesis (and I'm sure most of us do), FM is so different that's it's really hard to know where to start.
(4)
Kaitlyn M wrote on August 17, 2015

I get it. I didn't get FM8...Now i do.. Very solid and easy to follow
(2)
Zekagiu wrote on March 27, 2015

David Earl is a fantastic teacher. He explains things very well and I had no trouble following along. It seems like this course is missing videos at the end. He only showed how to make pretty bell and brassy tones; I know this synth is capable of doing a lot more such as heavy electronic complextro and dubstep sounds.
(12)
Hindie wrote on March 21, 2015

I really enjoyed this course, and i finally understand a lot better this synth. Have it for a while, but now I'm gonna use it more, for sure. I would like Dave to make a part 2 of this, because I feel there is still a lot to explore. Thank you.
(105)
Black Wing wrote on March 9, 2015

Great for beginning FM8. This will get your started. You get the basics of most of the bells and whistles, but not all of them. I would love to take a more advanced course.
(1)
Paul wrote on February 23, 2015

Great course by Dave Earl demonstrating the features and functionality of Native Instruments FM8 synthesiser. This is definitely for beginners to FM synthesis and the FM8, an advanced FM synthesis course would be nice MPV!
(101)
Ren wrote on November 7, 2014

David Earl plants seeds that blossom into what the creative mind makes of it. MPV's trainers are undeniably very good at what they do.
(104)
Anthony wrote on August 3, 2014

FM8 is a beast of a sound design tool; and I only just realised this. But thanks to David, it's been made a little bit easier to understand. I will definitely be coming back to these videos while exploring the amazing world of FM8.
(131)